Tottenham confirm £26m Soldado deal as transfer record is smashed for second time this summer... but Morata move is doomed

Tottenham have been told to forget the idea of signing Real Madrid starlet Alvaro Morata as part of the Gareth Bale transfer.

Spurs made it clear they would like Morata as part of a proposed £87million deal but the 20-year-old striker is not interested in the switch and Real have no intention of letting one of their hottest prospects leave.

Having seen Gonzalo Higuain join Napoli this summer, the Spain U21 international has only Karim Benzema ahead of him at centre-forward and can visualise his ambition of establishing himself at Real Madrid.

Big money: Spurs will smash their transfer record with the signing of Roberto Soldado from Valencia

Tottenham completed the signing of
striker Roberto Soldado from Valencia on Thursday for a club record
£26million subject to a medical, so the dart at Moratta makes little
sense, other than to suggest Daniel Levy is trying to squeeze as much as
he can from this deal.

Andre Villas-Boas remains keen to bring in Fabio Coentrao although his
£100,000-a-week salary is beyond what Spurs consider reasonable for a
left-back.

Coentrao pulled out of Real Madrid's friendly against Los Angeles Galaxy
in Phoenix on Thursday night with a 'muscle strain', which is a similar vague
problem to the one which has prevented Bale from training with the
Tottenham first team since Real made their move.

Checking in: Gareth Bale arrives for Tottenham training on Thursday but is expected to leave for Real Madrid

Clinical: Roberto Soldado could provide the goals to turn Tottenham into a Champions League team

Real's Angel Di Maria and Paris St Germain's Javier Pastore are among others
who have been linked as possible replacements for Bale and Spurs would
rather have replacements in before they complete the deal.

Bale reported again for work at the Tottenham training ground on Thursday
but did not train and is not expected to travel with the first-team to
Monaco on Friday.

Spurs meanwhile are close to signing Vlad Chiriches
from Steaua Bucharest.

Bucharest, however, would prefer to hang on to their £6m-rated
centre-half until after the second leg of their Champions League
qualifier against Dinamo Tblisi on Tuesday.

Second choice? Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor could struggle for first-team football this season

2005: September 28 - Scores late winner on Champions League debut for Madrid in 2-1 victory over Olympiacos.

October 23 - Makes Madrid Primera Division debut against Valencia.

2006: July: Moves to Osasuna on season-long loan and top-scores with 11 goals for the Pamplona-based side in the 2006/07 campaign, helping them reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and also earning him a first call-up to the Spain squad in the process.

2007: June 3 - Makes Spain senior debut in 2-0 Euro 2008 qualifying win over Latvia.- Makes five league appearances for Real Madrid during 2007/08 season as they win the Primera Division title.

2008: July: Joins neighbouring Getafe from Madrid on a four-year deal for a reported initial fee of four million euros. Scores 29 league goals in his two seasons at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez..

2010: June: Moves to home-town club Valencia in a reported 10million euro deal to help replace David Villa, who had joined Barcelona. Soldado nets 59 league goals in his three years at Valencia.

2012: February 29: Scores hat-trick as second-half substitute for Spain against Venezuela in first national team appearance since 2007.

2013: June: Part of Spain squad that finishes runners-up in Confederations Cup.August 1: Tottenham confirm they have reached an agreement to sign Soldado from Valencia.